Victor Cruz to be further evaluated

— -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in Sunday night's loss to the Eagles, was transferred Monday from Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia to the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York for further evaluation. Giants coach Tom Coughlin confirmed in a conference call that Cruz would have surgery to repair his torn right patellar tendon.

"Victor is a very, very positive and popular young man who has meant a lot to this franchise," Coughlin said. "He's got a tough road ahead of him. He's been challenged his whole life, and I don't see him backing down from any challenge whatsoever."

The "further evaluation" doctors are doing on Cruz is to identify what if any additional damage the knee suffered that might need to be repaired when they do the patellar tendon surgery. Regardless, Cruz faces a difficult and lengthy rehab and will not be able to play for the Giants again until next year at the earliest.

His wasn't the only significant injury the Giants suffered in the game. Coughlin said cornerback Trumaine McBride, who has filled in as the nickel corner since the season-ending injury to Walter Thurmond in Week 2, will have surgery on his thumb. No timetable was offered for McBride's recovery, but it's certainly possible he could miss the rest of the season as well.

Starting cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie's injury isn't as serious as those two. But after coming in and out of games for a couple of weeks in a row due to leg injuries, Rodgers-Cromartie left Sunday's game in the second quarter with back spasms. Coughlin said it's possible the Giants could rest Rodgers-Cromartie for this week's game against the Cowboys, but it also sounds like they could try to get him through this game and have him rest during the bye week that follows.

"I would hope we can figure out some way to try to take care of his medical issue," Coughin said. "If it has to be done this week, fine."

The Giants are very thin at cornerback, and with Thurmond and McBride both out the nickel spot likely falls to 2012 third-round pick Jayron Hosley, who was active for the first time Sunday night after missing the first four games of the season on a drug suspension. Zack Bowman filled in as the outsider corner Sunday when Rodgers-Cromartie left the game, and he did a good job, even intercepting a Nick Foles pass to set up the ill-fated drive on which Cruz got hurt.

As for how to replace Cruz, that's even more difficult. His primary backup at the slot receiver position, Jerrel Jernigan, is already out for the year with an injury. Coughlin said Giants coaches would spend Monday and Tuesday discussing how to arrange things in Cruz' absence. Rookie Odell Beckham Jr. could theoretically move inside and play the slot, but he has yet to play there at the NFL level and moving him in there could curb his ability to take the top off a defense with his speed. Preston Parker replaced Cruz in the slot Sunday night and can play either there or on the outside.

"The issue with Preston has been ball security," Coughlin said. "But in terms of playing multiple positions, he's shown he can do that."

Rookie Corey Washington, who's worked exclusively on the outside, could get some more looks with Cruz out. It's also possible the Giants could look outside the organization for wide receiver help via trade or free agency, though precious little is available at this time of the year. If there were a free agent on the market they liked better than the three they currently have on their practice squad - Juron Criner, Julian Talley and Travis Harvey - then he'd likely be on the practice squad instead of one of them. One of those three is likely to see a promotion to the active roster in the coming days. Talley, who has already spent time on the active roster this year, is the most obvious candidate.